Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to support musicians.

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

I want every child to have a chance to learn how to play a musical instrument or take part in music, and I want every musician to be able to make a living out of their career. I am working on better support for small venues across the UK and better remuneration for legacy artists, songwriters and session musicians.

[Lewis Atkinson]

Sunderland is a music city, and key to that are our great grassroots venues such as the Bunker, Independent and Pop Recs. But venues like those across the country operate on a financially precarious basis. Will the Minister update the House on how he will monitor the implementation of the voluntary levy on arena and stadium gigs, so that it can rapidly provide financial support to venues like those in my constituency?

[Chris Bryant]

The Bunker looks absolutely amazing. It is a not-for-profit organisation—apart from anything else—that gives young people and others an opportunity to learn how to play, perform and record. That is precisely the kind of venue we want to be able to support, which is why I am determined to get this voluntary levy over the line as soon as possible, so we can put millions of pounds into small venues. The last time I was in Sunderland was for P!nk at the Stadium of Light. Perhaps a helpful line from her is:

“What about all the plans that ended in disaster?”

I am determined that that is not going to be one of them.

[Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)]

For the first time since 2003, no UK artist has made it into the world top 10 album or singles charts. That is partly down to effectively closing the EU to touring artists, where followings now cannot get built and remuneration is not made for artists. The Minister promised to fix this. When will we get our artists back into Europe?

[Chris Bryant]

The hon. Member makes a good point—obviously, we need more songs from Runrig to get us back to the top of the charts.

To make a serious point, it is absolutely essential for new and emerging artists in particular that they have the opportunity to tour across the whole of Europe. I am determined to get this over the line. It is one of the things that we need to renegotiate with the European Union. We have a key meeting coming up in the next few weeks, and I hope we will be able to make some progress.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

Music fans were left outraged last summer by rip-off prices for Oasis tickets. Many paid hundreds of pounds over resale value to access the concerts they wanted to get to as dedicated fans. Liberal Democrats are calling for an outright ban on resales above face value. At the moment, it seems the Government are “Half the World Away” from a solution. When the Ministers answer, “Whatever” they say, please promise me that the answer to whether we will have a ban above resale value is not “Definitely Maybe”?

[Chris Bryant]

As the hon. Member knows perfectly well, a consultation is ongoing and will close on 4 April. It was a manifesto commitment of ours to ensure that the secondary ticketing market works for everybody. If someone is not able to turn up to a gig for whatever reason—family reasons, a funeral or whatever—they should be able to sell the ticket on. We have asked specifically whether people should only be able to sell it at face value or face value plus 10%, 20% or 30%. I note his response to the consultation. I hope he has responded to all the other issues in the consultation as well.

[Martin Rhodes (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

6. What discussions she has had with the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company on the 2026 Commonwealth games.

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[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal) (Lab)]

7. What steps she is taking to promote coastal Britain to overseas visitors.

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

Britain, as everybody will have noted, is an island nation, so our coastline is a vital part of what defines us as a visitor destination. I am really glad that the “Starring GREAT Britain” campaign, which we launched earlier this year, features many coastal areas, but we need to ensure that people get an opportunity to see our amazing beaches, eat our amazing food and enjoy the perfectly sensible summer weather that we have.

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter]

The tourism industry in East Suffolk is worth an estimated £693 million and accounts for over 15% of jobs locally, but we have suffered post pandemic. Estimates suggest that we are down 2 million on pre-pandemic numbers, which I imagine is just the tip of the iceberg. Can the Minister share with me what he is doing to support coastal tourism in places such as Southwold, Aldeburgh and Felixstowe?

[Chris Bryant]

I am very keen to integrate the creative industries far better into our visitor economy. My hon. Friend will know in her own patch that it is not just the Aldeburgh festival, which has been going since 1948; she has Maggi Hambling living down the road in Saxmundham, and there is a lively artistic community. We need to build that far more into our coastal offer around the country. I want us to get to 50 million international visitors to the UK by 2030. We will only be able to do that if more of them do not just visit London.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In a debate in Westminster Hall two weeks ago, the Minister was quick to respond on the need to ensure that the tourism industry across the whole of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland can take advantage. He will know the advantages of tourism in Strangford; he will know Strangford lough, the Ards peninsula and the Irish sea. The shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew), knows it very well—he did not do wild swimming on the day he was over, but he wished he could have. There are many things to attract tourism wherever we are. Will the Minister ensure that discussions to improve coastal tourism for the United Kingdom include Northern Ireland? We can do it better together.

[Chris Bryant]

It is a bit shameful to accuse the poor shadow Minister of wimping out on cold water swimming —I am sure he would have done it if it had been available. I am very keen that we have a national tourism strategy for the whole country by the end of this year, and I am working with the Visitor Economy Advisory Council to deliver that. That has to address the problems that many of our coastal areas have faced, including in Northern Ireland. Again, I make the point that the creative industries in Northern Ireland are vital to the tourism economy.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Saqib Bhatti (Meriden and Solihull East) (Con)]

As has been said, tourism is a huge contributor to the UK economy, and I was delighted to take part in English Tourism Week, as many Members will have done. The Government have committed to 50 million visits by 2030, and Conservative Members welcome that ambition. I was surprised to hear from the tourism sector that there is great concern about a purported cut to the VisitBritain budget. Will the Minister categorically tell the House whether there will be a cut to the VisitBritain budget, and if so, will he transparently tell the House how much that budget will be cut by?

[Chris Bryant]

I think the hon. Gentleman is talking about the GREAT campaign budget, and it is certainly true that finances have been tough. We are looking at precisely what money we may be able to source into that fund for the next year. I am very serious about wanting to develop a UK-wide visitor economy strategy. I think it might be valuable if the hon. Gentleman and I sat down at some point and he gave me some of the ideas that are rocking around in his brain, and we will see whether any of those can be incorporated into our plan.

[David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)]

8. What steps she is taking to help increase tourism outside cities.

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

Not only are we an island economy, but I would argue that our towns and villages are just as important for our visitor economy as our great cities. I recently spent a pleasant weekend in Chipping Campden, and many international visitors were wandering up and down Broadway. The right hon. Gentleman has some extraordinarily beautiful villages in his constituency, which I expect he is about to tell us about.

[David Davis]

Since we are swapping villages, I was in Pocklington last week, at the site of what Professor Alice Roberts described as the most important iron age archaeological site in Britain: the Pocklington chariot burial. It is a magnificent thing, and the centre of a huge area of iron age archaeology. I was there to meet dedicated local volunteers who are creating a new museum at Burnby Hall based on that archaeology, which will bring tourists into the countryside. What can the Government do to help people like that develop ideas such as this?

[Chris Bryant]

Not every village in Britain suffers the problems of Midsomer, but I know of the work that people are trying to do in Pocklington. The right hon. Gentleman refers to Professor Alice Roberts and her wonderful work in this area, and everything I have seen about the hoard in Pocklington is absolutely amazing. I slightly expected that the right hon. Gentleman would turn up wearing some of the bling—

[David Davis]

Or the armour.

[Chris Bryant]

Or some of the armour, because there was a time when it was fine for a man to wear a brooch; perhaps that time will come again. I pay tribute to Burnby Hall gardens and museum, and it would be amazing if we were able to get it back into full use. The gardens are amazing—apparently there are 80 different kinds of wild water lily—but it would be good if we could get the whole museum going, and I pay tribute to the volunteers who are trying to make that happen.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

9. What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned increase in employer national insurance contributions on creative industries.

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, a large proportion of the creative industries are constituted as small and medium-sized enterprises, and the vast majority of those are protected from the increase in national insurance contributions. Importantly, as many of them have said to me, they fully understand the need for greater expenditure on our public services, and that has to be matched by finding the money from somewhere.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

I have always been particularly impressed by your brooch, Mr Speaker. Nevertheless, those increases are damaging for any enterprise, but we could make it up to them by restoring Baroness Kidron’s amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Will the Minister do that?

[Chris Bryant]

No, we have just taken it out of the Bill for the precise reason that we do not think it would make the blindest bit of difference to the financial support provided to creative industries today. That is why we are not supporting the amendment.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

10. What steps her Department is taking to support the development of grassroots football in Scotland.

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[Sarah Smith]

Access to arts and culture can help to break down barriers to opportunity in areas such as mine in Hyndburn and Haslingden. Sadly, our much-loved Oswaldtwistle civic theatre closed in 2023 and had to be placed on the theatres at risk register. I welcome the recent grants awarded by the Theatres Trust and Hyndburn borough council, but will the Minister meet me to see how the Government could help to secure the future of this much-loved and important community asset?

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend. I know that a lot of work has gone in to try to get that back up, to get actors back on the stage and to get audiences back in. I hope that we can arrange a meeting as soon as possible.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Chris Bryant]

I understand the disappointment for some people who want to get into the package, as it were. My hon. Friend has three organisations in his constituency that will receive in the region of £500,000 this year under the national portfolio system. The problem we have is that we are in the middle of a spending review that will affect the next four years and, on top of that, we are doing a review of Arts Council England. We need to have profound change in the Arts Council so that it really works for arts organisations up and down the country, and that is what we will do.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

T6. Market Drayton in my constituency has really poor grassroots sports facilities for a town that serves more than 12,500 people. Shropshire’s Conservatives will not allocate any of the community infrastructure levy money from the significant recent development there to improving those facilities, so will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how we can get proper funding in, in order to provide Market Drayton—Shropshire’s third largest town—with the sports facilities it deserves?

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[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

I should properly declare an interest as a former member of the British Actors’ Equity Association. Mr Speaker, if I enter your house and steal the draft manuscript of your memoirs, I am guilty of a crime. Artists, writers, musicians and other creatives are all having their work stolen as we speak, and you and I have received letters about this issue. We do not have the time to wait; what are the Government going to do to protect creatives and their work?

[Chris Bryant]

Copyright law stands firmly behind the creative industries today, and will in the future. We will do absolutely nothing to undermine the fact that this country is one of the few great countries in the world that is able to boast of itself as a content superpower, and anything we do in relation to artificial intelligence and copyright will proceed only if we can make sure that the creative industries have more control and more remuneration at the end of that process, rather than less.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T7.   I very much welcome the national youth survey, which was launched last month and was mentioned by the Secretary of State. It is great to see a Government who are not only listening to young people, but are determined to put young voices at the heart of policymaking. In Dartford, we have a rapidly growing youth population, with the number of under-15s having grown by 30% at the last census. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is vital that policies that affect young people are produced with the people who are affected by them, and will she consider attending my youth engagement event in Dartford later this month?